Troops: New York - Christmas 2019
by KenSNJ
Summary: The Remnant and the Spectres do their regular Christmas activities.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.**

**TROOPS: NEW YORK**

**CHRISTMAS 2019**

**NEW YORK**

Christmas had come to New York and the Remnant was in the process of the annual holiday decorating. Much like she had done in years past, Wanda Houston put anyone she could find to work on the decorating.

"That goes there." She said to a pair of Stormtroopers who were carrying the box with the Christmas Tree that she kept in the Federal Building.

"Here?" One of the troopers asked as they put the box near a door.

"Where is the thing we put under the tree so it doesn't shed needles onto the floor? Not near the broom closet. Excuse me." Wanda replied as she opened the broom closet door and looked inside.

"Good, he's not using the broom closet as an interrogation room again. Now put that box over there." She said as a smaller box floated into the common area followed by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi who was carrying another box.

"Anakin, this is not proper use of The Force." Obi-Wan said.

"I'm defending myself from excessive physical labor. I'm pretty sure Padme volunteered us to do the other offices again." Anakin told him as they put the boxes down.

"Now we take the tree out of the box and put it up." Wanda said to the troopers as Tevin Felth came out of his office.

"These two are useless." Wanda said to him and pointed at the troopers.

"So I heard. Senator Skywalker just called me. She's furious and she's looking for her husband and the extended Skywalker Family. Something about Transportation just dumping everything at the other building and leaving. If I can catch Jacen in time, I can have him take the kids there provided Rae Sloane didn't already have a similar idea and has them doing Floyd Bennett Field outside of Thirteen working this afternoon."

"They weren't supposed to do that. Besides, Captain Syndulla is doing the Vican Run not the Kid Run." Wanda told Tevin.

"I forgot about that. I'll see if I can find out who's picking them up then. You want them here or the at your office?"

"Padme wants me, Obi-Wan, Galen, and my grandkids at the other building." Anakin said.

"Then I don't need the kids over there. Unless Sloane's got them doing stuff at the Academies, they can do here. They certainly get into the spirit better then some of our troops do." Wanda told them as the tree fell over.

"Pick this up and fix the stand so it doesn't happen again or you two will be spending Christmas in Russia." Tevin said to the two Stormtroopers.

"Yes, Sir." The Stormtroopers said as Tevin went back to his office.

* * *

As was thought by Tevin, Staff Sergeant Sloane had in fact put R9-D2 and the four teenage members of the Spectres to work decorating the Academies.

"Where does this go?" Darius Carpenter asked as he pulled out a mistletoe.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Josh Myers asked Darius with a hint of sarcasm.

"How many times has Sergeant Sloane made you do push-ups or General Felth ordered his Death Troopers to give you an Uncle Phil out of the building his office is in for being a smart-mouth?"

"Too many to count. Plus one booting from a kitchen for annoying the chef. We don't hang this thing because Max Walertin for one made a joke out of putting it in the women's showers and watching through the hole in the wall Mrs. Felth had sealed up after we moved to Seattle." Noah Rodgers said as he took the mistletoe and put it back on the box Darius found it in.

"I actually thought of the guard shack. It's hard to sleep on the job when people keep kissing you." Josh told them.

"Darius, come help me with this." Lucy Felth called from down the hallway.

"What am I doing?" Darius asked.

"Hold this. Don't even think of it Josh." She said and gave Darius the end of a piece of garland as Josh used The Force to take the mistletoe out of the box and began to move it to where Lucy and Darius were.

"Now I know why they want to keep the five of you together." Staff Sergeant Raechelle Sloane said from behind Josh.

"I thought it had to do with something else." Josh told her as the mistletoe fell to the floor.

"You owe me twenty. Because I know you had something to do with that mistletoe ending up on the floor there. Master Kenobi has given me a list of the things you are and are not allowed to use The Force to do. Tormenting your friends is not a proper use of The Force."

"That's not what Master Skywalker told me."

"Until I hear otherwise, I'm going by what I was told by Master Kenobi. President Houston suggested that I have you five do your parents' office because Stormtroopers don't know how to put a Christmas Tree up properly. She's waiting to hear about who picks you guys up and Darius' schedule. I just wanted to let you guys know. Joshua, you owe me thirty now." Sloane said as she went back to her classroom.

"I hate when she calls me that and it's all Eli Vanto's fault." Josh said to R9 who simply beeped and rolled away with another piece of garland.

"Are you going to help or stand there doing your Stormtrooper imitation and making wisecracks?" Noah asked him.

"What would you like me to do?"

"Put those lights up at the front gate and the guard shack. Then you can come back and do the thirty push-ups plus another ten for screwing around. After that, you can do the front door. In a real job, you can get fired for doing what you're doing." Darius said. Josh quickly grabbed the box with the lights and left followed by Noah.

* * *

At the Bronx high school where they worked, Sabine Wren and Chopper had been tasked with decorating the hallways when they saw a student doing something.

"What are you doing, Steven Abernathy?" Sabine asked as she walked over.

"Nothing." Steven replied.

"Doesn't look like nothing. Where's your hall pass?" Sabine said as Chopper rolled around to Steven's other side.

"What?" Steven snapped at Chopper who delivered a shock to Steven.

"Where do you belong? If you got thrown out of class, you go to the office." Chopper said something to Sabine.

"No one cares what you have to say. You have the same amount of power as the janitor or the lunch ladies."

"Where does he belong?" Sabine asked Chopper.

"Does it matter? No." Chopper said something to Sabine.

"It does matter and all of this is a write-up. On top of the one you probably got for cutting History." Sabine said as she pulled out her comlink.

"Ezra, do you want Steven Abernathy in class or in the office?"

"He's already got the cut for today, so show him to the office." Ezra Bridger replied.

"You heard him Chop, take him to the office." Sabine said as the school's principal Reggie Dobbs appeared.

"What is this?" He asked.

"Cutting History, backtalking staff, and vandalizing a locker with a gang sign again." Sabine replied. Reggie pulled out his phone and took a picture of the vandalism.

"Now you can sit in my office until General Felth's people come and get you. If you don't shape up by the Spring Term, you're going to Boot Camp."

"Like you sent Darius to Boot Camp last year." Steven said.

"Darius is there for a totally different reason. He didn't fail three classes and vandalize school property with gang signs. I hear he's happy down there." Reggie told then as they walked to the office.

"Very happy. He's come out of what was left of his shell. Rae Sloane keeps Ezra in the loop with him. Her whole class thinks his mother should have gotten more then twenty years in prison from Judge Khayman." Sabine said as they walked into Reggie's office.

"He wanted to be there?" Steven asked.

"He's there for academic over achievement, not causing trouble like one of his cousins." Sabine replied as Reggie dialed the number for the Remnant's office.

"Darnell, Reggie Dobbs. I got a student who got caught vandalizing again. Find out what the General wants to do about it. I know his mother is doing twenty. They basically got Life Sentences and Houston demanded that gang be executed after they went after my school and the ADA. That ADA actually went here years ago. Who's coming up? McKnight? Maybe a couple of nights in a cell will scare them straight. Thanks, Darnell." Reggie said and hung up.

"I sent Chopper to watch the "evidence" and make sure no one decides to alter or add to it." Sabine told Reggie

"Captain McKnight will be coming here to deal with the latest vandalism incident. As this is at least the fourth time you've been caught vandalizing school property, I will be referring this matter Downtown for them to decide what will happen as far as any actions to be taken outside of a five day out-of-school suspension and whatever the Remnant decides to do with you when they get here. Now, I'm going to call your parents and tell them what you were doing and that the Remnant may be taking custody of you." A half-hour later, Captain Landon McKnight arrived with some of his Stormtroopers and made their way to Reggie's office.

"Mr. Dobbs." Landon said.

"Captain."

"General Felth said that the Mayor's new Bail Reform Policy requires a DAT for Criminal Mischief. However, he also said that the Remnant is not bound by the Mayor's policies and that if I think it's warranted I can have Colonel Markem put the suspect up for a couple of nights. That means you go to jail until you see a judge."

"This is the fourth time that Steven has been caught vandalizing this school. He may have vandalized this school other times and not gotten caught. This time he was also doing gang tags." Sabine told Landon who signaled to the two Stormtroopers.

"Then we take him to jail. Stand up, you're under arrest for Criminal Mischief and Making Graffiti." Landon said to Steven as the Stormtroopers cuffed him.

"Like I care?"

"Keep that attitude going, you might not like what it gets you from the inmates or the guards. Read him his rights. I have to document the evidence." Sabine walked Landon over to the lockers Steven was tagging while Chopper shooed away a couple of students who were looking at the so-called art.

"Get to class before lates turn into cuts. Unless you're with me, then give me a few minutes for this." Sabine told the students as Ezra and Phillip Tate made their way through the hallway.

"Anyone in Physical Science has thirty seconds to get there before they get a tardy. Landon, what are you doing here?" Phil asked.

"Picking up the graffiti artist." Landon replied.

"Steven Abernathy cut his History class in order to tag lockers." Ezra explained.

"This is the fourth time he's been caught. Dobbs called Felth's office, told Darnell what happened, and Tevin sent Landon up to take the report and pick up Steven." Sabine told them.

"They won't cross paths unless they have lunch together. One's there for Academics and Vocational. The other one for being a discipline problem." Phil said before shooing some of the students to their classes.

"Steven and Darius had Galactic History together after I had to redo his schedule last year. Steven pushed Darius onto the floor about a week or so after that. Steven got suspended for three days because it was an unprovoked act of violence. He came back, Reggie and I read him the Riot Act and told him if he ever put his hands on Darius like that again and we found out, he'd be leaving here in handcuffs. If Steven gets sent there, I'll see if I can bring the file to Mekya Fanes so I can give her and Rae Sloane the heads-up about that incident." Ezra explained.

"Would he try it?" Landon asked.

"Steven barely passed last year and from what I saw the draft of the last report card, he's not doing any better this year. He might try it, unless he sees who Darius eats lunch with there and decides messing with Josh or R9 isn't worth a night in jail. Truth be told, he only passed last year, because Reggie redid all the math grades after he found out that Pryce gave everyone an F for no reason and he couldn't tell who actually got an F and who was given one for spite or whatever reason she did that." Sabine replied as the hallway began to clear except for the art students who were waiting for her. Ezra walked Landon out of the building since no one was serving an In-School Suspension.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Landon asked him.

"Do I know." Ezra replied.

"Between us, Grandpa's got a jacket for Noah since the word is that he's clearly staying and he's been part of the crew for the past year anyway."

"I guess Hera ordered that."

"Luckily, Master Kenobi frowned on Josh reading minds with The Force."

"He gave Rae Sloane a list of things that Josh is and is not allowed to use The Force to do including reading minds, pulling pranks, and stealing food. To which I said that's defense of stomach from Sylvia sneaking into Remnant facilities and stealing food."

"She doesn't have to sneak into Bennett when the sentries at the gate are always sleeping on duty. It's really amazing that nothing besides food is driven, flown, or walked out of that place." Landon said as he left the school. Ezra went back to his classroom and looked at some of the papers on his desk before digging out the tests he had given earlier and began grading them.

* * *

Jacen Syndulla returned to New York and was set upon by Hera as soon as he stepped of the Ghost.

"They're waiting for you." She said.

"I thought someone else was doing the Kid Run." He told his mom.

"Tevin said no one was assigned to it which means it defaults to you."

"He knew I was doing this run, he could have put someone else on that run."

"Both sets of twins were busy and so was Galen. President Houston's putting anyone without a previous job to work decorating again. Something about Stomtroopers and a Christmas Tree falling over that annoyed her." Hera explained as Jacen groaned.

"Where are they?"

"I put them on the Megaship. Josh owes Sergeant Sloane some sort of manual labor for calling her mother an elephant or something like that again. So I have him doing whatever work DECA says needs to be done. The other three should be on the Bridge unless they went to raid the Mess Hall or something. Sloane put Darius on a troop bus since he had to work this afternoon." Jacen sighed as he went to collect the teenage Spectres and their droid. He made his way to the Megaship's bridge when he heard a voice.

"Hold it right there."

"It's Jacen. I'm here for the kids and R9."

"I knew it was you. I could smell ya getting off the elevator!"

"Very funny guys." Jacen said.

"You was here last night too, wasn't ya?" The voice called out.

"I did the mechanical check on this ship."

"You was here, and you was smoochin' with my brother!"

"Joshua, this is not funny."

"Don't gimme that! You've been smoochin' with everybody! Snuffy, Al, Leo, Little Moe with the gimpy leg, Cheeks, Boney Bob, Cliff. I could go on forever, baby!" Jacen scoffed.

"Who? I have no idea who all those people are."

"All right. I believe ya... but my Tommy gun don't! Get down on your knees and tell me you love me!" Jacen got down on his knees.

"I love you." He called out.

"You gotta do better than that!"

"I love all five of you."

"Maybe I'm off my hinges, but I believe you. That's why I'm gonna let you go. I'm gonna give you to the count of three to get your lousy, lyin', low-down, four flushing carcass OUT my door! 1... 2..." Jacen scrambled to his feet and ran towards the Megaship's entrance as machine gun fire exploded.

"Three. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal."The voice called out followed by another round of gunfire as Jacen ran off the ship and went looking for Hera.

"And a Happy New Year." Jacen eventually found Hera in an office talking with Ezra, Landon, Captain Fanes, and Staff Sergeant Sloane.

"We got a security breach. Some maniac with a machine gun just chased me off the Megaship and I think he's been there for some time." Sloane and Fanes began cracking up.

"That is a scene from one of the Home Alone movies." Sloane said.

"In other words, it was a Joshua prank. I'm going to get him for that."

"You played along with it didn't you?" Ezra asked Jacen.

"For all I knew it was a real maniac with a gun given how easy it is to get in here." Jacen replied.

"Speaking of, who put the mistletoe on the guard shack?" Fames asked.

"That would probably be another Joshua stunt." Sloane replied. Hera and Jacen went back to the Megaship and found the four sitting on the bridge watching Home Alone 2.

"Sloane told you it was a movie." Hera said.

"I couldn't resist doing that to him." Josh told her.

"Guess who picks you up for the rest of the month, Sylvia. You better have food for her." Jacen told him.

"You better clear that with Dad first." Lucy said.

"He might have other people assigned to the job already." Noah added.

"He better, I'm not doing both trips all the time."


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.**

**TROOPS: NEW YORK**

**CHRISTMAS 2019**

**NEW YORK**

The next day, Tevin and Michael Myers began discussing Christmas dinner.

"Should I bring my table over?" Michael asked Tevin as ran into each other at the office.

"How would your neighbors would feel about seeing a floating dining room table?" Max Walertin asked them earning a look from Tevin and a head-slap from Michael.

"You just drew Officer of the Day Duty for both Christmas and New Years again for that. Which means that if some ship crashes somewhere in the woods in Jersey or Upstate, you go. So, don't get too wasted like you did last year." Tevin told Max.

"What did he do?" Michael asked.

"Drank a six pack in an hour. Then when an Unauthorized Landing took place in the Poconos, Darnell had to go because Derik had to keep an eye on Max. It will not happen again unless you like Russian winters." Tevin explained.

"Back to the subject at hand." Michael said.

"The kids were content at the TV last year, but I know we have four more to seat and feed. You have Tori and I invited the Carpenters."

"About Tori and Chris. How do you want to make sure that what happened on Halloween doesn't happen again?"

"It won't. Not with everyone there."

"It wasn't supposed to have happened in the first place. On the other hand, I'd much rather it be Chris then one of those creeps she keeps getting found in cars with."

"They won't pick her up anymore. Either they think she's a cop or that she works for Chris Hansen after Landon confronted the last one and arrested him."

"Getting back to the point at hand. Do you want my table or not?"

"Yes, I want it. Chris is sitting with the adults because of what he did to Justin last year. I should buy some folding tables from somewhere for future use." Tevin said unaware that Kelly Felth was standing behind him.

"What junk are you buying now?" She asked.

"Folding tables."

"And chairs." Max added.

"So no one has to eat a holiday dinner in front of the TV?"

"Although the kids were content there outside of Chris beating up Justin again."

"Which is why Chris will not be sitting with the rest of the kids this year. Also, because of the thing with Tori that 3PO told me about." She told them before leaving the squadroom.

"That droid is a bigger yenta then Sylvia. Somedays I wonder if the Organas added espionage or something related to snitching and being a yenta to its programming at one point."

"What's happening with the Academy show?"

"Jamal Wilkins said his grandmother was flying in again. He thinks she mainly wants to see Darius."

"His mother is lucky she plead out. I honestly think Khayman would have given her the needle and scuttlebutt says a number of people think she deserved it." Michael told Tevin.

* * *

"You wanted to see me General." Ryan Pratchard said as he walked into Davin Felth's office.

"Yeah. A couple of things. What kind of sentence are you recommending for Remnant vs. Ohnaka?"

"Ten years seems reasonable. Of course it's up to Judge Wright in the end."

"That'll keep him from making deals with the First Order when he finds some sort of profit in dealing with them. What are you and Little Ryan doing for Christmas?"

"We usually visit his grandparents and then find someplace that's open for dinner. Why?"

"Tevin asked me. They make more food then everyone who's there can eat. He said he was looking at two days worth of leftovers even after he factored in servings for Tori Rodgers and the Carpenters."

"Carpenter as in Remnant vs. Carpenter?"

"That case is closed. Besides, Ryan's never been around any of the other kids before. He might actually like them and they might actually like him. They took to Darius although calling Thrawn on the First Order and going one-on-one with a Devaronian helped."

"Did we close that case? I know the defendants in the attempted robbery at his job plead out after we told them that they were looking at the death penalty for the ones where they did murder the shopkeepers."

"Carmichael said they plead out. Twenty-Five years for the one and twenty for the other one. All the cases his name is in the files on are closed. Go, you'll have a good time and so will the kid. Don't make me have to pull rank and give you a direct order or tell the President you're being a Scrooge."

"You talked me into it. Besides, I need to talk to Tevin or Michael about school stuff."

"Where is Ryan anyway?"

"In my office, probably reading some junk that's on my desk."

"Tevin has them brought up after their classes unless Carpenter's working. Might be a good idea to let Ryan mingle with them too. Speaking father to father."

"We'll see how it goes." Ryan told Davin before heading back to his own office.

* * *

That afternoon, Jake Khayman brought Josh, Noah, Lucy, and R9 to the office as was the norm while Jamal Wilkins picked up Darius.

"Where we headed?" Darius asked Jamal.

"Airport. Someone's waiting for us. Last year, I brought Ezra with me. It was the day we rescued you." Jamal replied.

"Your grandma."

"She wanted to meet him last year. She suggested that I go with him when he went to check on you. I'm glad I did." Jamal said as they took the exit for the airport. Darius let out a chuckle as he read something on his phone.

"What's funny?"

"General Felth just had Josh given another Uncle Phil out of the Federal Building." Darius said.

"Like your boss when Hondo Ohnaka is trying to unload stolen goods."

"Didn't know you knew anything about Fresh Prince?" Jamal laughed.

"That makes two of us." Jamal pulled up to a terminal and parked.

"You can really park in front of the terminals?"

"Watch this." Jamal told him and put what was clearly a homemade placard stating that he was on official business for Tevin in the windshield before getting out of the car. Darius just shook his head before getting out himself.

"It's kinda true that we are on business for General Felth." They soon found Jamal's grandmother Darlene waiting for her luggage. Darlene greeted both of them with huge hugs.

"You look so much better then you did last year." She said to Darius.

"I feel a whole lot better too." Darius told her.

"I left my car parked in front of the terminal." Jamal said.

"I can't even get my driver in LA to park in front of the terminal there."

"Technically, we're om official business for General Felth." Jamal and Darius loaded Darlene's suitcases into the car and then drove away from the airport towards Manhattan where Darlene's hotel was.

"What are you two doing now?"

"I have to bring Darius down to General Felth's office and return this placard to him." Jamal said.

"I'm sure Noah and Lucy will be happy to see me since Josh got thrown out of the building again. I wonder what he said." Darius added.

"I knew that kid for two months and his mouth was passing bad checks. Nick and Tommy told me that his dad does it all the time."

"You were looking for me?" Rich Terrik asked Tevin.

"Come in and shut the door." Tevin said.

"If it's about the guy covered in bruises, he was resisting arrest with violence and nearly got blasted as a result of fighting with us."

"You're getting promoted and reassigned."

"To where?"

"Dallas, Texas. General Ashley was in a head-on car crash with a drunk driver. Kyp Durron told Dad he didn't make it and Dad told me when he called to tell me to add the Pratchards to my Christmas dinner table. A good number of our officers either don't want to deal with Kyp or acted in a way that makes us think they're not exactly loyal."

"When would I be leaving?" Rich asked.

"Middle of January. This also works out because Director Elbaz made a ton of noise about getting Lavi back to Tel Aviv."

"Rex thought it had something to do with a peephole between the two locker rooms. But, she thinks Kenobi did that. But, I think she did it so she could watch Galen."

"I don't care. Show me how much I should care? Kelly is the only one who gets mad over that."

"What about my open cases that are no where near ready for court?"

"Bring Walertin up to speed on them. Maybe he'll find something you missed. Wouldn't be the first time." Tevin said.

"I'm sure the Mayor will miss me."

"He'll have nothing to do since he won't be sending people here to complain about you and Rex arresting fifty people a day."

"I'll tell Tyler when I get a chance. I never arrested fifty people in one day. Besides, it's not just me and Rex. You've got Rivers, Mackey, and McKnight out there arresting people too. Six months out of the Academy and he's already managed to close at least two open murders. Hard to believe his dad was a fireman."

"His dad tested for both and Landon said his dad would have been at The Towers that day regardless of which agency he was working for at the time."

"Then how does the grandfather own a shoe store?"

"Lost a kidney serving in Vietnam. Can't work for PD or FD with only one kidney."

"I didn't know."

"Now you do. Go break the news to your partner unless she already knows somehow." Tevin said. Rich turned and left Tevin's office.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.**

**TROOPS: NEW YORK**

**CHRISTMAS 2019**

**NEW YORK**

Finally the day of the Academy Christmas Show arrived and everyone was busy.

"You sent for me." Thrawn asked Tevin as he found Tevin placing presents under the office tree.

"Yeah, can you pick the kids up from their classes? Jacen refuses to do the run because of some prank Josh pulled on him."

"Of course, I'll leave at once."

"Good. Radar!" Tevin called.

"Yes, Sir. Show Grand Admiral Thrawn where the minivan is parked." The Sergeant said.

"Any particular place you want them?"

"They come here. We're having a small party as soon as Hera gets back from whatever trip she's on. I think she went to pick up Zeb and Kallus."

"That's what she told me." Thrawn said and followed Radar to the elevators where they met Ryan and Ryan Jr. coming off.

"Who was that?" Ryan Jr. asked.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn." Ryan replied as they spotted Tevin.

"What's all this?"

"Presents from people who won't be able to deliver them on Christmas."

"You better tell him."

"Your dad invited us to Christmas dinner at your place. I get the impresion that it was either us or Mrs. Jacobs." Ryan told Tevin.

"I told him we already had Tori and the Carpenters coming."

"I'm sure it beats whatever someone could find at the local 7-11 because Dad never plans ahead for Christmas dinner."

"Most if not all of the open restaurants are expensive and not really kid-friendly." Ryan explained.

"You guys will have fun." Tevin said and smiled.

"We will be in my office." Ryan told him and steered Junior towards his office.

"Junior can hang out in the kitchen. I just sent Thrawn to go pick up Darius, Josh, Noah, and Lucy." Tevin called after them. Junior immediately sprinted across the squadroom to the kitchen. A couple of hours later, Thrawn returned with the four teens and R9.

"Anything I need to know?" Michael asked Thrawn.

"General Syndulla should be joining us within the hour. The Ghost was coming in as we passed under the Narrows Bridge." Thrawn replied.

"We can let the kids get settled in then." Tevin said as he placed some more packages under the tree. In the kitchen, Lucy looked at the red-haired boy.

"You're Ryan's son aren't you?" She asked him.

"Yeah. They call me Junior because I'm named after him." He replied.

"I'm Lucy and this is Darius, Noah, Josh, and R9."

"The only one who bites is the droid, usually on command." Josh said causing Junior to look at R9 nervously. Noah immediately smacked Josh.

"This is why General Felth keeps making like Uncle Phil and having you thrown out of here like you're Jazz at the Fresh Prince House." Darius told Josh.

"You're lucky you didn't get it for calling Sloane's mother a walrus today." Noah added.

"What are you? An idiot?" Junior asked Josh.

"It was used as a descriptive term." Josh retorted.

"Are you seriously trying to justify to me the fact that you're an idiot with a filthy mouth?"

"Somebody watches too much Judge Judy." At that moment, Jacen walked in.

"About time somebody talked to you the way you talk to others." He said and made himself a cup of coffee.

"Does he do this to everyone?"

"He pulled a prank on me earlier this week. Most of the time, it's heavyset women he goes after. For this I kinda blame Landon's grandfather." Hera soon arrived with Zeb and Kallus followed by Ezra, Sabine, and Chopper. Finally, Wanda and Gary McKnight arrived.

"Family's finally all here." Tevin said as everyone mingled. Max bit into a sandwich he had made and then made a face.

"What is this? Dollar Store mustard?"

"I resent that." Jacen said.

"Whatever it is, it's a cheapskate brand." Max told him.

"Okay, we have some presents for the kids from people who will be busy on Christmas." Tevin said and began placing gifts in front of the kids.

"I wonder what these are." Darius said.

"Lumps of coal." Josh told him.

"Any Scrooges will be thrown out of the building." Wanda told Josh as Noah threw wrapping paper at him.

"New jacket. What's with the 14 on the shoulder?" Noah asked.

"Welcome to the crew." Ezra said causing Jacen to groan.

"Hey! What did I say about being a Scrooge? He groaned, he goes out." Wanda said to a pair of Death Troopers who escorted Jacen out of the building.

"Did he do a Scrooge imitation?" Michael asked as he joined them.

"He groaned when Noah was officially made a member of General Syndulla's crew." Kallus replied as Zeb helped himself to some of the snacks.

"I have something for Josh and Noah that his Kelsey and I really can't keep hidden either here or at the house for the next few days." Michael said and whistled. A small, white ball-shaped droid with orange features and a standard astromech head rolled out of Michael's office and towards the kitchen.

"Who's this?" Lucy asked as R9 inspected the droid.

"He's called BB-8. That way you guys have one droid on all three ships if something comes up and you guys need them." BB-8 looked at R9 and then rolled over to Chopper who mumbled what sounded like a string of curses.

"Chopper! Be nice." Ezra shouted.

"You want to get thrown out of here too?" Sabine asked. Chopper said something that sounded like an apology to BB-8 who beeped at Chopper and rolled away.

"Don't worry, that droid will learn some colorful language soon." Junior said.

"I doubt we will ever run out of insults for fat women any time soon." Josh tolm him.

"You will, when you get sued for it." Ryan added.

"Well, no one has sued me yet." Gary said as Darius opened an envelope.

"I'm eligible to get my Class D." He said.

"I should be working on mine soon." Josh added.

"That was supposed to go to the Academy, not here." Tevin explained.

"Jacen will be happy to hear this." Hera told Darius.

"Ezra and the kids have the next Vican Run too." Tevin told her.

* * *

"Whoever mopped this floor used filthy water because it sounds like I'm sticking to it." Eli Vanto said as he walked down an aisle at the theater where the Academy Christmas Show would take place.

"As am I." Thrawn added.

"Everyone's in town?" Eli asked him.

"Captains Orrelios and Kallus arrived earlier today." Thrawn replied as Jacen joined them.

"Captain Syndulla. What do we owe this pleasure to?"

"The President threw me out of the office. My mom sent me here. Did the General's Special Guest arrive?"

"She did." Eli replied.

"Good. I thought maybe somebody messed up her transportation."

"Detective Wilkins handled that himself to avoid such problems."

"Why is this floor sticky?"

"We just requested that the floors be cleaned again."

"Putting this show together is not like planning a battle or wiping an entire civilization out of existance." Jacen directed the last part of his statement at Thrawn.

"What is he talking about?" Eli asked.

"Captain Syndulla is referring to events that you nor I had any role in. In fact, these events would not have taken place had Governor Pryce not caused a major setback for the TIE Defender project. Again, I state that I was most displeased with her for that and her attempt to cover it up. The TIE Defender was ready to begin production while Stardust was still nothing more then expenses and excuses from Director Krennic and others."

"Stardust?"

"My Uncle Alex told me Stardust was the codename for what became known as the First Death Star." Jacen said to Eli. A couple of hours later, everyone arrived and took their seats. Tevin opened the show.

"As you know, our Academies have been working hard to put together tonight's show despite the lingering threat of the First Order. With that said, let's get on with the show. Our first act is a young man who has made a tremendous leap from where he was this time last year. Ladies and Gentlemen, Darius Carpenter." Darius came out and gave a performance of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". This act was followed by a couple of other acts and a speech by Wanda about events in Washington and what impact they could have on the Remnant. While this was going on, Jamal and Darius went to Darlene's dressing room.

"You even sound better then you did last year." She said.

"What happens when you don't have your mother's poisons in your system anymore." Darius told her.

"Along with a ton of newfound self-confidence." Jamal added.

"My Manager told me about what that producer sent you."

"Well, he's doing time for that. Plus the scare he got from the unexpected Stormtrooper visit and search of his office. We got to get into place." Jamal said as a knock was soon heard on the door. Radar was on the other end.

"We already know." Darius told the Sergeant. On stage, Tevin was preparing to do the introduction.

"Our final act has been with us for nine years now. This act began in the 1980s as part of the David Letterman Show which included 20 years on this very stage. When he retired, it moved to The View, but still remained a part of our show. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Darlene Love." Darlene came out and performed her holiday classic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" with Darius and Jamal as part of the background choir. As the song ended, Tevin took center stage again.

"I don't know what closet they hid him in this year. I wasn't here when he was hidden. For all I know, I walked by it and didn't notice." He said referring to the saxophone player.

"On behalf of President Houston and the Remnant, I'd like to thank everyone for coming tonight, hope y'all have a good night, and drive safe. Merry Christmas." He stepped off the stage as the reprise of Darlene's song played.

* * *

After the show, the four teens went for pizza along with R9 and BB-8.

"You sounded a lot better then you did last year." Noah said to Darius.

"Darlene told me the exact same thing." Darius told him.

"His lungs have cleared up from all the damage his rotten mother and her trashy boyfriends did to them." Lucy added.

"I'm surprised that Jacen hasn't killed Thrawn yet." Josh said out of nowhere.

"Hera, Ezra, and Eli are keeping the peace between them." Noah told him.

"What time should we come over?" Darius asked.

"Dinner is around six or so. We spend a good part of the day cooking and moving furniture around. So, around 5:30." Lucy replied. Outside, the Force Ghosts of Kanan Jarrus and Bryan Khayman looked on and were soon joined by Yoda.

"Enjoy this event you do?" Yoda asked Bryan.

"It's more about family then anything." Bryan replied.

"Why this planet's Jedi Order doesn't separate families when it finds Younglings." Kanan added.

"A mistake of the old Order, corrected Kenobi and Skywalker have with this one. Not taken children from families we should have."

"On this planet, it's illegal just about everywhere to take a child from its parents for religious indoctrination. Some parts of this world have the Death Penalty for that." Bryan explained.

"Doing good things, this Order is. Not fallen to the Dark Side a member has yet."

"That's because this Order has the right support services for its members to prevent that from happening." Kanan said.

"Keep watch of this Order we shall." Yoda told them as the three Force Ghosts faded away.


	4. Chapter 4

**I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.**

**TROOPS: NEW YORK**

**CHRISTMAS 2019**

**NEW YORK**

Christmas morning at the Felth House went as expected. Kelly prepared breakfast while Tevin, the kids, and A.J. opened presents. Lucy opened an envelope as R9-D2 hovered next to her.

"Cash." She said.

"Your mother wanted to buy you clothes, but I talked her out of it. You can buy your own clothes and I know you don't take fashion advice from Tori." Tevin told her.

"I still have to get her fitted for a gown in a few months." Kelly called from the kitchen.

"Why get her all dressed up? No one else will be dressed up. In fact, I'm sure I will be able to plan this party myself once Richie's in Dallas." Tevin called back.

"Uncle Richie's leaving?" Justin asked.

"It's a long story." Tevin replied.

"Getting back to a certain birthday party. I will make sure the invitations say Formal Attire Required." Kelly said causing Lucy to laugh.

"Why does Mom want to fix what's not broken?"

"She's daring Dad to pull rank on her." Chris suggested.

"Chris, you're grounded again and breakfast is ready. I have this whole idea of what I want to see at this party." Kelly said as she joined them.

"Like what?" Tevin asked her.

"Lucy in a gown, jewelry, white gloves, heels, a fancy banquet hall,..." Kelly began, but was interrupted by Tevin.

"Undercooked or overcooked food that costs $100 a person and is always chicken, people not wanting to come because they don't want to pay $1,000 or more to play dress-up, a frozen zone around the place, Death Troopers, limos, and an unhappy Birthday Girl who says "Daddy, have whoever came up with this idea court-martialed, shot, and sent to Russia like Uncle Joe would have done". Most of which I will end up paying for." He finished for her.

"You forgot the people who will show up wearing whatever they started the day in." A.J. added earning a scowl from his sister. Chris and Justin found a new TV and a new video game system along with some new games.

"You two share those." Tevin told them as a knock was heard at the front door.

"That better not be Walertin coming to report an unauthorized landing or a homicide." Kelly said as C-3PO went to answer the door.

"Master Tevin, it's Master Michael and Master Joshua with a rather large piece of furniture." He announced.

"Bring it in, Boss." Tevin said and got up. Michael and Josh brought their table in and put it next to Tevin's dining room table after Tevin moved a chair out of the way.

"I moved this over now because I have to go pick my sister up at the airport yet." Michael said.

"How would you guys feel about Rubber Chicken for Lucy's next birthday party?" Tevin asked the two Myers.

"Even Wanda and Padme avoid serving that crap at State Dinners. You should make like Rodgers and send whoever came up with that idea to Siberia with a blaster wound and a severe demotion." Michael said.

"See, nobody likes your idea." Tevin told Kelly.

"Idea for what?"

"Lucy's Sweet Sixteen. She wants to do this big formal event that we have spend a million dollars that I don't have on and close down the area of. Lucy already hates it."

"We don't do formal at our house. I don't even have the suit I wore when I married Kelsey. I wear work clothes to State Dinners because I don't really go to those and if I do, I just throw a jacket on over my regular clothes." Michael explained.

"What happened to your suit? I was under the impression you had a few, but didn't wear them."

"Rednecks with shotguns at the Oasis when Josh was 2. I was trying to be nice and they were running on liquid courage. Long story short, never wore a suit again and don't intend to unless Wanda or Kelsey make me. On top of that, my three have nothing formal to wear."

"I will get Wanda to make you two do Lucy's Sweet Sixteen my way." Kelly told them.

"Until she's presented with the thirty page security plan of where the frozen zone is, where the checkpoints will be, what streets will have to be closed down, and how the motorcades will be handled." Tevin told her.

"Plus, what limo company would do business with the Remnant because of the ongoing War on Taxis and Livery Cars?" Josh asked.

"Another point to consider."

"What time is dinner?" Michael asked.

"About Six. Gives Kelsey and Kara time to get everything cooked and over here. Plus, my dad, the Carpenters, and the Pratchards are coming."

"Pratchard?"

"Dad's idea. He thinks Ryan's sheltering the kid."

"Josh complained because Junior called him an idiot." Michael said causing Tevin to chuckle.

"He had it coming like Walertin did when Ezra Bridger said his name was Jabba the Hutt. Alex Kallus actually put that in the file on Ezra as an alias."

"I better go meet my sister's flight." Michael left while Josh lingered around for a bit.

* * *

At the McKnight House, the living room was full of Spectres and friends exchanging gifts.

"What's this?" Jacen asked as he opened a gift revealing a winter hat, a scarf, and gloves.

"Thanks, Landon."

"You've been here for three years. I'm surprised you didn't have those." Landon said.

"Must have something to do with Mom's side of the family." Jacen told him as Ezra opened a gift that turned out to be a pair of shoes.

"How did you guys know my shoe size?" He asked.

"AP-5 measured your foot when you were asleep." Gary replied.

"I hope the clerk was a fat woman who made fun of you." Ezra told Gary making Jacen laugh.

"This from the guy who claimed to be Jabba the Hutt at least twice." Kallus said.

"It can get quite cold in this city at times." Sabine said as Thrawn and Eli Vanto opened up boxes to reveal new coats and other winter accessories.

"Does it get as cold as Csilla?" Eli asked.

"It can at night." Ezra replied as he unwrapped a new blanket for his bed. A few hours after the last of the gifts had been opened, AP-5 announced that dinner was ready. Zeb make a mad dash for the dining room followed by Ezra. Hera and Gary exchanged glances.

"It's always fun when the family's together." She said.

"Hey, save some for the rest of us." Jacen told Ezra and Zeb.

"We have enough food made for at least thirty people." AP-5 said earning a scowl from Zeb.

"So we might have leftovers for the piece of poultry next door." Gary quipped.

"A what?" Eli asked looking at Thrawn and then at Ezra.

"Don't ask. You'll get Chopper going with that clucking sound again." Landon replied.

"We gave up on trying to correct his behavior. Every time that stuff gets deleted off his memory bank, he somehow downloads it again." Sabine explained.

"I think Dobbs secretly enjoys it when Chop shocks the students for causing trouble. Thrawn, can you and Eli pass the rolls and butter down to this end before Zeb eats all of them. Thank you." Ezra added.

"At least we didn't get the lumps of coal a fat woman was hoping AP and I would get." Gary said.

"Why would a fat woman want you two to get a lump of coal?" Kallus asked.

"Do you really need to know?" Jacen asked him.

"She did come in at closing time." Gary told them.

_A heavyset woman walked into McKnight Shoes and spotted Gary talking to AP-5._

_"Excuse me, do you have any red pumps in my size?" She asked._

_"It is entirely possible that we had a pair of Size 12 red pumps. However, I do not recall them being on my last inventory list." AP-5 said._

_"It would also be cruelty to shoes if I were to sell them to you." Gary added causing the woman to huff._

_"I hope you two get lumps of coal in your stockings tomorrow morning." She snapped._

_"Well, we hope you get Slim Fast and a membership to Jenny Craig in yours. Now we're about to close, so would you mind waddling on out." Gary told her._

_"Now I know where my daughter's History Teacher gets his manners from." She said._

_"Perhaps I should see if any of the local zoos are missing any of their large animals." AP-5 told Gary causing the woman to storm out of the store._

"If it's the kid I'm thinking of, she's also failing most of her other classes as well." Ezra said.

"How is that possible?" Thrawn asked.

"She comes to class and eats junk food instead of doing work. I'm thinking of having Chop confiscate her food, but I don't want her mother mooing at me again because I had her big bag of potato chips that she doesn't share with the rest of the class taken away. Maybe I'll start writing her up for this. Kinda distracting."

"Let Dobbs deal with the mother." Hera suggested.

"I had Freshman Science with a kid who did that. After the first month of this, the rule was made that eating food in class and not working was an automatic ejection." Landon said.

"A what?" Jacen asked.

"Trip to the Principal's Office. We work with his old Science Teacher." Sabine told him.

* * *

At the Felth House, everyone who had been invited gathered and mingled. The Carpenters showed up first followed by the two Ryans who had picked up Davin before coming over. The kids had gathered around the TV. Junior took a seat next to Justin.

"Hey." Chris said.

"Hi. I'm Ryan. You can call me Junior since my dad's around."

"I'm Justin and this is Chris. You already met our sister and the black guy next to her is Darius."

"Who's that?" Junior asked as he saw Tori appear.

"That's Tori. You might want to watch out for her. She flirts with anything male. Although her preference is thirty year-old men." Lucy told him.

"I think my dad prosecuted her last date then."

"Guys, that's my sister." Noah protested as he picked up BB-8 and put the droid on the couch between him and Josh.

"They seem to be getting along." Ryan told Tevin and Michael.

"For now. I'm waiting for Josh to say something stupid or rude because he thinks he has immunity from being thrown out of my house today. Besides, throwing people out of places is against 3PO's programming if not physically impossible for him. I'l just have him thrown out of the office tomorrow. Although, I think he's starting to like it." Tevin told Ryan.

"You have him thrown him out of the office, he goes to McKnight's shoe store and joins in on insulting the customers there." Michael added.

"They are both lucky you can't get sued for calling someone a bantha."

"What are the kids doing?" Kelly asked.

"Sounds like they are watching the first Home Alone movie and someone just hit in the face with a flying paint can." George Carpenter said.

"R2, anyone who even tries to touch the desserts gets shocked and Michael don't even think about it. Probably explains where our son got it from though." Kelsey Myers told R2-D2 as she put the pies on the counter.

"Joshua got what from where?" Etta Carpenter asked Kelsey.

"Using The Force to take food."

"As opposed to what Mrs. Jacobs does until she's escorted out of the office for stealing Piett's lunch." Ryan muttered.

"What did you guys make?" Davin asked.

"The three wives decided on ham this year." Tommy Doyle replied.

"Kids, dinner's ready." Kara Doyle called. The eight kids came into the kitchen and got their food before returning to the TV. R9-D2 rolled in a minute later and rolled out with one of the six packs of soda. Lucy came in and grabbed two more bottles.

"Lucy, give those four to Grandpa, Ryan, and the Carpenters." Kelly told her.

"Excuse me, Master Tevin and Mistress Kelly. Perhaps you should monitor what the children are watching. I feel it is very improper to watch such a movie at their ages." C-3PO said as he walked into the dining room.

"What are they watching?" Ryan asked.

"Joshua, turn that off. You know the Die Hard movies have a high body count and a lot of blood." Michael called out.

"Justin's sensitive to that and I don't know why. How does Junior react to those kinds of movies?"

"I left crime scene photos out on my desk once a couple of years ago when I had to meet a food delivery before Sylvia did. To this day, he still looks through stuff on my desk and has gone through a number of crime scene photos. He has an interest in my cases for some reason. Maybe rehearsing my opening and closing statements in front of him for the past year wasn't my brightest idea." Ryan explained.

"Most of them didn't react when they were told about Grand Admiral Pellaeon passing away over the summer. Then again, they didn't really know him outside of books and whatever Thrawn may have told them." Tevin told Ryan.

"I think he even found the papers from when I was given custody and later adopted him. He didn't react the way I was expecting him to. We had a rational conversation about it and I told him that it was what Shawn wanted and I probably would have been in his life anyway if Shawn hadn't been killed."

"Then it's just Justin who gets upset by that stuff." Kelly said.

"Where did we go wrong with him?" Tevin asked.

"Blame the increasingly liberal indoctrination efforts of the city school system." Michael replied.

"I have a year before I have to figure out what to do with Junior and high school." Ryan told them.

"High Schools require an application unless there's special circumstances."

"Like what?" Davin asked.

"Pre-enrolled siblings, lifestyle choices, and a few other things. Transfers work along those lines too. Clearly dad thinks I'm talking about bribes." Tevin explained.

"Darius got into your Academy on an academic transfer. His cousin was a disciplinary transfer." George said.

"Every time she mouths off at Captain Fanes, she goes to the jail for a night. Prison population is gonna love her." Kelly told everyone.

"We're surprised she hasn't attacked anyone there." Etta said.

"Too many Stormtroopers around there and unlike public school teachers who are not Ezra Bridger or Sabine Wren, our teachers are trained to defend themselves from a violent attacker." Tevin told her. After dinner and dessert, more gifts were exchanged. Darius gave Lucy a necklace.

"That looks like a sign of commitment. How did you afford that?" Kelly said.

"Saved my money up. I'm able to do that now." Darius told her.

"Darius was eligible for money from a Crime Victim's fund for a couple of the cases that he was the victim in." Ryan explained.

"He doesn't want to make a liar out of Kanan Jarrus. Our resident yenta told everyone what he told Jacen Syndulla about them ten years from now." Tevin added.

"I'd have him thrown out of the house for that, but we don't have any Death Troopers around to do it." Josh quipped causing Kelly to explode in laughter.

"There is that scene on Fresh Prince where Jazz threw Uncle Phil out of the house and then there's the scene where Uncle Phil threw Jazz into the house." Darius chimed in.

"But, he had Death Troopers throw me out. Thus, I need Death Troopers to throw him out."

"I can throw him out if you want him thrown out." Michael said causing everyone to laugh. As they drove home, Ryan asked Junior what he thought of everyone.

"They're okay. A little crazy, but explains that guy who always wore dresses around the office."

"Remind me to ask Jacen Syndulla what exactly his father said about my granddaughter's future." Davin said.

"According to scuttlebutt, Darius releases this album. Then he and Lucy make a movie about the three pilots that they've been putting the story of together, get married, move to Philadelphia, and have a kid." Ryan explained.

"At least that kid will have better then he did."

"Story goes that Darius went to college and became a teacher himself. He never forgot what Ezra Bridger did for him that day. Or Jamal Wilkins for that matter, his three choices were Hollywood, teaching, or becoming a cop."

* * *

The Skywalkers had the usual Chinese catering and the usual guests.

"Rich Terrik's leaving for Texas in a couple of weeks along with Derik Lavi to Israel." Erica said.

"Is Felth going to be short on people?" Anakin asked.

"I think he'll manage." Galen Marek replied.

"He has the Jedi doing grunt work." Jacen Solo said.

"That's because someone convinced the President that most of the Jedi in New York are free to do that kind of work." Anakin told his grandson and looked at Padme Skywalker.

"What's with the hole in the wall in the women's locker room?" Jaina Solo asked.

"I thought Colonel Felth had ordered that hole sealed up with no trace left. Mitchell, make sure that you put some meat on that plate." Firmus Piett said as his grandson filled his plate with fried rice.

"That's what I'm about to do." The teenager replied as he put a huge helping of boneless ribs on his plate.

"Well, someone put it back with a Lightsaber." Erica told the Grand Admiral.

"What makes you think it was me? It could have been Joshua. I forgot to put creating peepholes for spying on that list I sent to his Academy instructor of what he is and is not allowed to use Jedi abilities or weapons to do." Obi-Wan said as everyone looked at him.

"Who's in charge down in Texas?" Padme asked changing the subject back to Rich's transfer.

"Kyp Durron is the senior most Jedi down there. One of Luke's original students. Terrik's staff there won't be as big as Felth's is here, but the population is spread out a bit more and somewhat smaller in that sector then it is here. Plus, he won't have all the Executive and Jedi Order offices under his watch." Anakin replied.

"What is the Jedi presence like down there? Just Kyp?" Galen asked.

"He's the only Master down there right now. There are some Knights, a few Padawans, and a number of Younglings down there also, including Master Durron's son." Obi-Wan replied.

"I wonder if he has a drawer full of dirt on local politicians down there too." Erica said.

"He better not." Padme told her.

"Things in Texas are quite different then they are here. He'll settle in quite wekk with Kyp and the locals." Anakin explained.

"Happy Christmas everyone." Obi-Wan said to everyone and raised his glass.

"I agree." Firmus added as he raised his glass followed by Galen and everyone else.


End file.
